Pumpkins, Passages, and Pathogens

Yesterday was a perfect fall day for the Mullinax family. We went to a local pumpkin patch just outside of Moore with our friends from church and had so much fun! There was a petting zoo, a corn maze, a playground made of hay bales, hay rides, and a big patch where you could go and pick your own pumpkins to take home! Zaylee loved playing on the pumpkins, climbing on the hay, and of course, petting the animals. Perhaps the only unpleasant part of the whole trip was when she got a little too friendly with a piglet and it decided to nibble on her hand. She didn't like that at all!
Every year as the first of October rolls around and I start to get out my fall decor and buy pumpkins to carve, I am overcome with a renewed appreciation for the seasons. God, in all his wonderful creativity, knew exactly when we would need a change in scenery, weather, and color in our world each year. I can't imagine living in a place where there are none! I think Solomon truly understood God's wisdom in giving us "seasons for everything" when he wrote about them in Ecclesiastes 3:1-8:
1 To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:

2 A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;

3 A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;

4 A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;

5 A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;

6 A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;

7 A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;

8 A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.

These verses have really spoken to me over the last two weeks as I realize that there have been many of these "times" happening in my life. And according to the Bible, it's all part of the big picture of God's plan for our life!
Another thing that the fall season is reminding me of this year is just how fast the time has gone! This time last year, Zaylee was less than a month old and we were just getting started filling our new role as parents. Now, she's 2 1/2 feet tall, weighs almost 23 lbs, and is a energetic and endearing little girl. I have to remind myself all the time to appreciate life for what it is today, because it all changes in the blink of an eye.
Unfortunately, the last thing the fall season has brought us this year is bronchitis. The whole family is home from church today with nasty coughs and runny noses. Although we suspected something was starting yesterday, now our full blown sickness has arrived and we are not feeling good at all. I guess in Solomon's words, today will be "a time to refrain from embracing" and "a time to heal."